84 C10 Clutch woes

[yellomalibu]

I figured out how to get the boot off. Screws. They were black on a black boot; camouflage.

Then I googled to figure out how to get the shifter off, because just looking at it wasn't helping me. Simple... after I knew how. I'll post pics later.

It'd be nice if this was a little aluminum transmission, because it really is a bit more work pulling the engine, but since I'm by myself here, I don't want to risk having the cast iron beast roll off a jack under a truck while im next to it...
The part I'm not sure about is if the tranny will clear the exhaust cross over... but I think the exhaust will fall out of the way (enough) when I disconnect it.

[yellomalibu]

Ok... I didn't bother uploading the pics showing the screws in the shifter boot, or my removal of it. It really was a matter of unscrewing it once I opened my eyes and found the screws.

But here's what the shifter looked like under the boot: I saw no way to remove it except for that thing that looks like an allen head set screw on the side. Turns out there is one on each side and they are roll pins, not allen screws.



To remove that spherical shaped part, simply push down toward the ground and rotate it counter clockwise about 3/8", and it pops right up.



This is what it looked like under that cap. See the roll pins? How to get the shifter out? Remove the roll pins?



Couldn't get the roll pins out (fortunately), and decided to try to lift on the shifter... it came right out. Oh, THAT'S what they meant on the internet! *important* or so it says on the internet, so it must be true: be SURE transmission is in neutral BEFORE removing shifter.

[Scott Liggett]

I replaced the shifter on my friend's 66 pickup with that trans. We got a chromed one. It was a goofy shape. I would've chromed the original.

[squirrel]

I was napping when you asked the question...but yeah, you just turn the ring counterclockwise a little while pushing in, then pull the whole assembly out.

It would probably be easiest to pull the engine to work on the clutch, but even doing that is a bitch on those trucks.

[kyhunter89]

I thought it had to be half way into reverse?

[yellomalibu]

I was napping when you asked the question...but yeah, you just turn the ring counterclockwise a little while pushing in, then pull the whole assembly out.

It would probably be easiest to pull the engine to work on the clutch, but even doing that is a bitch on those trucks.

Yep. I'm eliminating a bunch of emissions stuff while I'm at it.

Hood's off, radiator's out, compressor's disconnected from the engine, along with some pain in the ass brackets... power steering is off, starter is off, plugs are out, almost got the manifolds un-bolted from the heads (the bolts to the exhaust weren't coming out)... drive shaft is disconnected from the tranny, speedo is disconnected, tranny mount is removed (it was completely ripped in half anyway I already have a new one to install)... Hoping I don't have to move the cross member, since it's at the very rear of the tranny and is held to the frame by about 12 bolts.

still have to finish the driver's exhaust manifold, un- bolt the motor mounts, make sure all the wires are disconnected and clear including the reverse light switch, undo the fuel lines from the pump, pull the carb/ install the lift plate... and then go slow and watch to see what I forgot... but that will be tomorrow. I have a bit more to do tonight, then get cleaned up and go to bed.

[squirrel]

I would leave the trans in the truck, just pull the engine out.

[yellomalibu]

...and try to align the input shaft of the transmission into the new clutch while trying to settle the engine onto the saddles?
Not me. I pulled them as a unit. Only a couple issues that slowed me down.
- I should have pulled the balancer pulley while the belts were holding it still. Instead, I struggled with it when it became clear that it would not clear the radiator support... swinging from the cherry picker, engine spinning while trying to loosen the bolts.
- Garage door is about 4 inches too low to do it the way I wanted to... so I ended up pushing the truck out from under the engine and tranny.

Turns out the rear main seal wasn't the issue with the oil in the bell housing; the back side of the flywheel was dry. The steel piece the throwout bearing rides on - it's round and held on with 4 bolts - has a seal on the inside of it and a gasket between it and the transmission - the gasket was leaking.

[yellomalibu]

The Throwout bearing was almost completely seized up. It was grinding the fingers of the diaphragm away, rather than spinning on the transmission shaft. Nice.



The outside was almost as caked with sludgey goop as the inside of the bell housing... but not quite. The valve covers were leaking, but so was that input shaft cover.



This is after I cleaned it up and put the new gasket on. The bearing was starting to gouge it a bit (that's why the pedal was so hard to push- which is what broke that z bar ball pivot). I cleaned it up/ polished it with some 320 grit to knock off the high spots. Hopefully the new throwout bearing slides over it nice and smooth.

[squirrel]

That piece is called the front bearing retainer. Did you change the seal in it?

[yellomalibu]

No I didn't. The splines were dry- the seal wasn't leaking. The gasket kit didn't come with seals.

Am I guaranteed a leak now that I didn't replace it?

[squirrel]

Hmmm....28 year old seal, you disturbed it by removing the retainer....

[yellomalibu]

It's back together! Yay.

The clutch is smooth and the pedal is lighter than it's been since I've owned it. Nice.

I didn't end up changing the bearing retainer seal... a gamble, I know... but it was still pliable. It had been changed relatively recently. The silicone oozing from some of the other parts of this tranny tells me that it has been apart before. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

After I got it together and got the clutch linkage hooked up, I HAD to hop in the truck and see how it felt. Pedal went damn near to the floor before I felt any resistance. I thought I did something wrong, but remembered Jim asking me about taking the slack out of the pedal... so I adjusted the linkage and brought the pedal close to the top. Very nice. The geometry even looks better on the linkage now; like it's supposed to, I bet.

I managed to fix that broken rear exhaust manifold bolt I asked about a year or so ago. My temp fix of installing gaskets and tightening the remaining 5 bolts actually worked quite well since then (the other side is still metal to metal and doesn't leak).
I tried to go back to metal to metal on this side. No bueno. tick tick tick. So as soon as it cools down enough to mess with, I'll go out and pop the other half of the gasket set I bought last year between the manifold and the head... and that SHOULD be it.

Also, the truck now has 2 new motor mounts and 1 new tranny mount. Hopefully now I can reverse with a trailer without looking like I can't drive. Before, the engine and/or tranny would rotate or twist, causing the clutch to engage, usually resulting in my stalling the truck. The tranny mount didn't "look up" for this truck. I had to give measurements, and my buddy at the parts store found the right one that way.

Alright... manifolds are probably cool enough to handle now.

[Loren]

Hat's off to you, bitch job and you did it.

[TheSilverBuick]

Hat's off to you, bitch job and you did it.

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